Galveston: Week in Review

Friday, 8 January 2016
Galveston Island State Park — Galveston, Texas
Temp Range: Hi 69F (21C) / Lo 40F (4C)

Our first week after leaving Port A for our winter Phaeton travels flew by in the blink of an eye.  Before we move on to our next stop tomorrow, I want to share what we did in Galveston.  It will be a long post, so don’t say you weren’t warned.

Our plan was to leave GWRVR on January 2.  The forecast put forth by the weather gurus suggested that was not a good idea, so we delayed our departure by a day, arriving at Galveston Island State Park (GISP) after a smooth drive on the 3rd instead.  After several gray and gloomy days in a row, it sure felt good to find ourselves in a place with sunshine and blue skies.

For this visit to GISP — our first time here — we reserved a site on the beachside of the park.  Nice to hear the surf from the coach; and even see over the dunes and watch the waves crashing ashore from the higher vantage point of the Phaeton’s cockpit.

Site 7 — electric / water only — our home for six nights.

Left: With the way our site is situated, we can watch the sunrise from the Phaeton.

Right: Mui returns from his morning  beach stroll bearing gifts.

The weather forecast called for rain — with possible thunderstorms — later in the week.  So, Monday saw us out doing some sightseeing in Galveston … a city that has literally had to reinvent itself after “The Great Storm of 1900.”  Later in the week we would learn more about the unnamed hurricane that caused so much death and destruction; for the moment we focused on Elissa, a tall ship that was brought here to Galveston after being rescued from the ‘junk pile’ in Pireaus, Greece.

Galveston’s Working harbor from Pier 21.

Docked at the Texas Seaport Museum at Pier 21, Elissa was fun to tour on our own with an audio guide whispering stories in our ear as we went from one deck to another.  The adjacent museum itself wasn’t of great interest to us, but we did enjoy watching the documentary about the rescue and restoration of Elissa, and how she made the voyage across the Atlantic to her home in Galveston.

The best place to get a good view of Elissa is from the wharf on the far side.

Elissa’s wheel and wheel box.

All that rigging looks like a tangled web to me, but I am assured that’s not the case.

Afterwards, we had lunch at Nonno Tony’s World Kitchen.  Unfortunately, our experience didn’t live up to the reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor … perhaps because we were there during an odd hour and the kitchen wasn’t staffed by the “A’' team.  In any event, we skipped dessert, opting to get some ice cream to enjoy while we strolled The Strand … one of Galveston’s historic districts.  As we wandered around, we noticed there wasn’t much action here.  “Perhaps it’s the time of day,” we thought.  But when we returned to check it out at night later in the week, it was even deader than it had been during the day.  Ultimately, I think it’s the time of the year one visits rather than the hour of the day that makes a difference to one’s experience of the Strand.  We did enjoy seeing the lovely Victorian buildings, though.

Designed and built in 1895-1896, the Hutchings Sealy Building is actually two structures, which amazingly survived the 1900 Storm and every hurricane to pass through Galveston since then.

Our plan to stroll along the bay side of GISP didn’t pan out when we returned home — the trail was simply too mushy — but we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset on our beach walk later, so can’t complain.

I manage to catch a sanderling standing still for a change.

Colorful end to the day.

sun reflecting through the sea foam.

I mess up the camera setting and end up with an over-saturated sunset image, but I am
keeping it anyway as I love the way the sun is reflected on the sand along the water’s edge.

Tuesday’s sightseeing plans called for us to be out and about after dark.  So, we stayed home during the day, catching up on a few chores.  At 4:00p, we headed over to Moody Gardens.  I had read that we could get deeply discounted tickets to one of the attractions if we purchased the $10.95/person admission for the holiday lights display.  The woman at the ticket counter had a better deal for us — the lights and one attraction for $14.95/person.  Considering the aquarium — our attraction of choice — alone is usually $21.95/person I think we got a great deal.  In the end, I was glad we did not pay the full price as I don’t think the limited displays at the aquarium warrant the high admission.  Nonetheless, we enjoyed the ‘fishies’ and, in particular, the penguin exhibit.  Yeah, I know, we’ve seen zillions of these flightless birds in the wild, but one can never have too many penguin encounters ;-)

The Aquarium has four species of penguins on display: Chinstrap, Gentoo, King, and Rockhopper.

A serene spot in the aquarium where the fish swim around and over visitors.

Pregnant Seahorse	Weedy Dragon

The deadly lionfish is one of the interesting denizens of the aquarium tanks.

By the time we left the aquarium, it was dark outside.  Time to check out the Festival of Lights.  Belated though it was, I’m glad we took the opportunity to see these lights since our attempts to enjoy holiday cheer in Corpus Christi were fogged out.  The chill in the air made it feel like winter — oh wait, it is winter ;-).  And the Christmas carols being played over the P/A system put us in the holiday mood.  The light displays were not as elaborate as some we’ve seen in the past, but we had a fun evening nonetheless.

The pyramid behind this light display is one of three at Moody Gardens.  Each
one houses a different attraction.  This is the rainforest pyramid i believe.

Chinese Lanterns put up to honor the Chinese Lantern Festival.

A pirate ship keeps company with the Colonel, a replica paddlewheel boat,
which is used to take visitors on hour-long cruises on the Offatts Bayou.

The weather was soggy on Wednesday, so we just stayed in.  There’s always something to do when we’re at home, so the day went by fast and we weren’t bored.

We woke up to ankle-deep standing water on the pad Thursday — the grass on either side of the site was already saturated from previous rains and there was nowhere for all the rain that fell overnight to go.  The GISP staff must be used to this problem, however.  As soon as the work day started, they were making the rounds with portable sump pumps, diverting the water away from the sites.

We don’t have to wade through as much water as this willet has to,
but the water on the pad is ankle-deep when we wake up Thursday.

Since it was overcast and there was rain in the forecast, we started the day thinking we’d visit a museum and go see a documentary movie at the Pier 21 Theater.  By the time we were ready to set out, however, the sun had broken out and there were patches of blue in the sky.  It was too late in the day to go to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, but it looked like this would be a good day to take the free ferry over to Bolivar Peninsula anyway and have lunch at Stingaree, recommended by the Z’s.  As it turns out, we had sunshine for the ferry ride to and from the peninsula, but it was totally overcast the rest of the time.  Oh well, you win some; you lose some.  At least we got to have seafood for lunch.

Back in Galveston, we decided it was too early to go home, so we went to see The Great Storm movie.  The best way to describe it … a digitized slideshow featuring B&W photos that tell the story of the hurricane that devastated Galveston in 1900.  The narration is in the words of the survivors … chilling at times.  The dramatic photos were heartbreaking to see, but I think the movie would have a stronger impact on a smaller screen where the details would be more apparent to the viewer.

Parking at Pier 21 is validated by the movie theater and the restaurants on site.  Since we had more than an hour to spare on our validation, we went for a stroll near the water and watched the pelicans and cormorants preen their feathers in the late afternoon sun.

We run out of time to check out the Ocean Star Offshore Energy Center …
a retired drilling rig that serves as a museum now.

Ooops!  Splashed while drying out!

Brown and white pelicans enjoying a warm afternoon in the harbor.

We planned to stroll the trails at GISP when we returned home, but they were a muddy mess after the previous night’s rain.  So we concluded our day with a sunset stroll on the beach, dodging incoming waves as we walked.  It was high tide, and most of the beach was under water, but we managed to walk a decent distance without getting wet … and of course the colorful sunset made it all worthwhile.

The beach is pretty much under water …

… but we enjoy our sunset stroll anyway.

Too bad I didn’t remember the Tree Sculpture Tour brochure I had picked up from the visitor center until we got home yesterday … the fine weather would have been perfect for a DIY scavenger hunt to look for the sculptures.  No matter … we went back to downtown Galveston this morning to do just that.  Our hunt started out amidst swirling fog, which imbued the East End Historic District in a mysterious ambiance.  But by the time we were half-way through our stroll, the fog had lifted, allowing us to enjoy both the sculptures and the beautiful homes — some of which were survivors of the 1900 hurricane.

From the Sacred Heart Catholic Church veiled by the morning mist, …

… to colorful homes down the road after the fog lifts.

It was quite fun to follow the tour map, which gave the address for each sculpture and showed the path to follow.  The sculptures are carved out of some of the mighty oaks that were destroyed by another storm that did considerable damage to Galveston — Hurricane Ike (2008).  Some were simple carvings; others more elaborate.  Some were on the sidewalk; others were in gardens fronting private residences, but easily viewable by passers-by.  It was nice to see life wrought out of the dead trees by the sculptors who put their time and effort into the project.  That each sculpture has a story to go with it made the experience that much more meaningful.

Birds of Galveston — sculpted by Dale Lewis.  This big oak tree contains 17 birds on
the branches and relief carvings of small plants and animals around the trunk.

Left: Great Dane (by Dale Lewis) — The homeowners own a gentle grey Great Dane named Hunter.
The tree had actually grown around the fence at the spot where the paws grip the railing.

Right: Pod of Dolphins and Mermaid (by Earl Jones) — Carved into the “family tree,” The dolphins represent the children and the mermaid (hidden in this photo) represents the mother.

Left: Tin Man and Toto (by Jim Phillips) — King Vidor, one of the directors of
"The Wizard of Oz," was born in the front downstairs bedroom of this property.

Right: Grandmother Reading to Her Grandchildren (by Earl Jones) — the sculpture
overlooks the playground park to which the Adoue family donated money in her honor.

By the time we got to the last sculpture, my FitBit was showing that we had walked over 11,000 steps.  Our feet wanted a break; our tummies wanted to be fed.  Since we were on Postoffice Street, we went into Saltwater Grass, another restaurant recommended to us by the Z’s.  Yummmy!  We both had salmon — mine grilled, Mui’s in a wrap; and we topped off our meal with the gooiest, tastiest hot chocolate truffle cake we’ve ever had.  We could have used another stroll to walk-off some of the calories, but by then it was starting to sprinkle rain.  With thunderstorms in the forecast, we decided we’d better head home instead.

Our lunch experience at the Saltwater Grill gets two thumbs up.

The storms made an appearance later in the evening — everywhere but over us.  We saw the lightning flashes over the Gulf of Mexico and over the bay on the opposite side of the island.  Thunder was but a distant rumble.  It rained a little on us, but certainly not as much as it did elsewhere.  While parts of east Texas bore the brunt of the storms, we had it easy … this time.

And that covers our stay here at Galveston National Park.  Tomorrow is moving day.  We’re not going far — just about 40 miles (64 km).

If you want to see more photos from our time in Galveston, you will find them in my online gallery here.

© 2004-2015 Two to Travel's Phaeton Journeys.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.